change timestamp for syslog

biiiep · 03-31-2007, 06:30 AM

hallo,

i have a curious problem with timestamps in my logfile like syslog. it shows the seconds passed since... i think since 1. jan 1970. but i'd like to have it in a normal format, like date/daytime. but i didn't found a solution for this problem.

the red colored parts disturb me.

for example look at the dmesg output

Code:

[17189629.692000] end_request: I/O error, dev hdd, sector 504
[17189629.696000] hdd: tray open
[17189629.696000] end_request: I/O error, dev hdd, sector 508

and the syslog output

Code:

Mar 31 13:19:51 psymchn kernel: [17189629.692000] end_request: I/O error, dev hdd, sector 504
Mar 31 13:19:51 psymchn kernel: [17189629.696000] hdd: tray open
Mar 31 13:19:51 psymchn kernel: [17189629.696000] end_request: I/O error, dev hdd, sector 508

MensaWater · 03-31-2007, 08:38 AM

I'm not sure what that number is but I don't think it is a time stamp.

1) dmesg typically (unfortunately) has no time stamps in it. The messages there wrap around so that the most recent messages are at the end. Such messages could be as new as 1 second ago or as old as your last boot.

2) Your syslog actually has human readable time at the beginning of the lines so it wouldn't make sense you'd see that AND an epoch time later in the same syslog entry.

Oddly enough, however, the first part of the numbers does translate like a date in 1970:
epoch_converter.pl 17881629
Sun Jul 26 19:07:09 1970

However that date/time has no real significance.

Adding the second part of the number just moves it up to later in 1970 so I think it is just a coincidence that this number equated to sometime in 1970. The fact that there is more to the number suggests that it is not really.